The newly erected village of Ahfad Younis which was built as an act of Palestinian popular resistance was invaded at around 3 a.m. March 24th, 2013. Around 600 Israeli Occupation Forces entered with weapons and forcefully evicted the residents in an aggressive manner. Four residents of the Palestinian village Ahfad Younis were arrested including Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative.

Ahfad Younis has been described by the activists as a neighborhood of the evicted tent village of Bab al-Shams, which was erected earlier in January of this year. The neighborhood had around 15 tents set up, and was established in the wake of US President Barack Obama's visit to the country last Wednesday, in an attempt to highlight the Israeli policy of continuous Jewish only settlement construction in the West Bank.

The area where Bab al Shams and Ahfad Younis were built on is Palestinian-owned land classified by the Israeli authorities as "E-1," a narrow strip of land between the West Bank and Jerusalem where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced at the end of last year his intention to build a further 3,000 settlement housing units, which will effectively sever Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.

Dr Mustafa Barghouti and the three other arrested activists were taken to the police detention center in the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim. A lawyer worked immediately to secure their release, and by 10 am approximately the Palestinians arrested were let go.